The present invention relates generally to the electrical contact structures in the field of microelectronics, and more particularly, relates to electrical contact structures and a method for manufacturing the same for microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
Typical Land Grid Array (LGA) interconnects are 2-dimensional arrays of compliant electrical contacts that are sandwiched between two electrical devices, and pressed together to establish electrical contact in an electrically connected package. The application of force using hardware which surrounds both electrical devices provides the pressing together of the electrical devices. Primarily, varieties of LGAs include: 1. the geometry and constituent materials of the individual contacts; 2. the method of fabrication. The method of fabrication typically includes: 2a. one-shot array formation, i.e., molded or sheet stamped; and 2b. sequential placement of individual contacts to form an array. Example of known LGA fabrication techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,331,796, 7,137,827, and 7,452,212, all of which are commonly assigned with the instant application, and the subject matter of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
However, decreasing the size of contact structures negatively affects mating of electrical contacts on each of the electrical devices being pressed together. For example, scaling LGA contact xy dimensions sacrifices z-dimension compliance or true positions (TP) when electrical contacts are pressed together to form an electrically connected package.
It would be desirable to provide an electrical contact structure and method for manufacturing the same which provides smaller scaling of the contact structure with increased contact between electrical contact structures. There is further a need for a method and structure which provides smaller contact size (xy dimension) for LGAs, without sacrificing contact mating (z direction) in an electrical package.